Thomas m



(NovModel.) TI M CREPAR 8u H. HUNTER.

DRIVING GEAR.

No. 540,208. Y Patented May 28, 1895.

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i W/TNESSES.' /NVENTOHS MW M. m,

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PATENT THOMAS M. OREPAR AND HUGH HUNTER, OF CLARE, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNORSOF ONE-THIRD TO FREDERICK LISTER, OF SAME PLACE.

DRIVING-GEAR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 540,208, dated May 28,1895. ApplatOll led October 1l, 1894. Serial 110.525,600. (No model.)

To aJZZ whom t may concern:

Be it known ,that we, THOMAS M. CREPAR and HUGH HUNTER, of Clare, in thecounty ot' Clare and State of Michigan, have invented a lnewandImprovedDriving-Gear, of which the following is a full, clear, andtion.

Our invention relates to improvements in driving gears and particularlyto such gears Io as are applicable to bicycles. It is well known that itis easier for a rider to4 move his feet up and down on the pedal cranksor levers than it is to follow the pedals with the feet in a circle; andthe object, of our invention is I5 to produce a simple running gearwhich has the pedals arranged to move up and down in the segment of acircle,and to produceasimple transmitting mechanism which is actuated bythe pedal levers and is arranged toimpart 2o a rapid rotary motion to adriving sprocket wheel of the ordinary kind.

To these ends our invention consists of certain features of constructionand combinations of parts, which will be hereinafter de- 2 5 scribed andclaimed.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of.this specification, inwhich similar figures of reference indicatecorresponding parts in all the views.

3o Figure 1 is a side elevation of a safety-bicycle provided with ourimproved drivinggear. Fig. 2 is an enlarged detail side elevation of thedriving-gear. Fig. 3 is a broken side elevation of the driving-gear, butshow- 3; ing the opposite side from that illustrated in Fig. 2. Fig. 4is a cross-section on the line 4 4 of Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is a detailsectional view showing the connection between one of the pedal-leversand the main driving-gear wheel,

4o and Fig. 6 is a detail sectional View showing the manner in which themovement of the pedal-levers is regulated.

The machine has the ordinary pedal shaft which is provided with thecustomary end 45 nuts for holding it in place, and on this shaft is ahollow shatter sleeve 11 which forms really the axle of the driving gearand which has the ordinary ball bearings 12 to support it in the frame13 of the bicycle.

exact descrip- 5o Loosely journaled on one end of the sleeve` 11 is amain gear wheel 14 which has, on opposite sides, ratchet teeth ladaptedto engage pawls by which the main gear wheel is turned, the teeth on theouter side of the wheel engaging a pawl 16 which is held in a 55 recess17 of a lever 18 and is pressed by a spring 19 into engagement with theteeth 15,

as shown clearly in Fig. 5. The lever 18 is jonrnaled loosely on thesleeve l1, as shown clearly in Fig. 4, and the other lever, to be 6opresently described, is secured to the sleeve, provision being madeforthe alternate movement of the levers.

The inner teeth of the main gear wheel 14 are engaged by a pawl 20 of acrank 21, 65 the pawl having the same sort of connection with the crankas the pawl 16 has with the lever 18, and the crank is secured to thesleeve 11 which has also secured to itat one end a second pedal lever22, and both levers 22 and 7e 18 are provided with foot pedals 23 whichmay be of any desired pattern, but are preferably as shown in thedrawings, in which they are illustrated as having heel socket-s 24 whichprevent the feet of the rider from slip- 75 ping from the pedal. Thelevers have also a series of holes 25 at the vends' to enable the pedalsto be adjusted in and out, as desired.

The pedal levers 18 and 22 move up and down in the openings 26 of theburrs 27 which 8'@ are secured to the endsof the shaft 10, and thus themovement of the levers is limited by the Vupper and lower walls of theopenings 26. The levers are normally pressed upward by springs 28, asshown in Fig. 6, and conse- 8 5 quentiy after a lever has been depressedby the foot of the rider it is automatically returned when the foot israised, so as to bring the lever in position for another movement. Ateach down stroke of the levers the main 9o gear wheel 14 is turned byone of the pawls 16 or 20, and hence as the levers move alternately, aconstant movement in one direction is imparted to the gear wheel.

The main gear wheel14 meshes with a hori- 95 zontal gear wheel 29 whichturns on a depending stud 30 of the frame 13, and the gear wheel 29meshes with a second vertical gear wheel 31 which is journaled on a stud32 projecting from the main stud 80, as shown in roo Fig. 4, and thegear wheel 3l meshes also with a pinion 33 which turns loosely on thesleeve 1l and is secured to the hub of a large sprocket wheel 34 andthis connects by means of the common chain 35 with the sprocket wheel 36which is arranged in the usual way on the hub of the rear wheel of thebicycle.

It will be seen that a large sprocket wheel 34. may be used, so that thebicycle may be driven with great Speed, and that the up and downmovement of the pedals, together with the connection between them andthe sprocket wheel, enables the sprocket wheel to be driven withcomparative ease.

Having thus described our invention, we claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent- 1. The combination, with the axle and thesleeve thereon, of the main gear wheel loose on the sleeve, thevertically movable pedal levers, one of which is loose on the sleeve andthe other secured thereto, a pawl and ratchet connection between one ofthe levers and the main gear wheel and between the sleeve and the maingear wheel, a sprocket wheel on the sleeve, and a driving connectionbetween the sprocket wheel and the main gear wheel, substantially asdescribed.

2. The combination with an axle, and a sleeve thereon, of a gear wheelloosely mounted on the sleeve and provided with ratchet teeth onopposite sides, vertically movable pedal levers, one of which is mountedloosely on the sleeve and the other secured thereto, a pawl carried byone of the pedal levers and engaging the ratchet teeth on one side ofthe gear wheel, an arm secured to the sleeve, a pawl carried by the armand engaging the ratchet teeth on the other side of the said gear wheel,a sprocket wheel loose on the sleeve, and gearing between the sprocketwheel and the gear wheel loose on the sleeve, substantially asdescribed.

3. The combination with an axle, and a sleeve thereon, of a gear wheelloose on the sleeve and provided with ratchet teeth on opposite sides, apedal lever loose on the sleeve, a pawl carried by the pedal lever andengaging the ratchet teeth on one side of the gear wheel, a second pedallever secured to the other end of the sleeve, an arm secured to thesleeve adjacent to the loose gear Wheel, a pawl carried by the said armand engaging the ratchet teeth on the other side of the said gear wheel,a sprocket wheel loose on the sleeve, a pinion on the hub of thesprocket wheel, a gear wheel carried by the frame and meshing with thepinion, and a second gear wheel carried by the frame and meshing withthe first named gear wheel of the frame and the gear wheel loose on thesleeve, substantially as described.

THOMAS M. OREPAR. HUGH HUNTER. Witnesses:

FREDERICK LIsTER, J. H. CARPENTER.

